Memories Are Made of This
by SirBoomstick
Summary: A sequel to "Thank You". After Shepard receives his honourable discharge, he and Tali go on a tour of the galaxy, laying the foundations for a new life. Named after a Dean Martin song.


Memories Are Made of This

Part 1: Mindoir

One Girl, One Boy, Some Grief, Some Joy

Frigate to Mindoir: two months after the battle for Earth.

The vessel was overcrowded for one surprisingly so large. Men and women, civilian and servicemen of different species and walks of life filled up every seat on the _New Orleans_. Despite the conditions, no one could be happier than they were right now. For the first time in what seemed like years, people felt safe. The most deadly and devastating enemy the galaxy has seen was now running scared, suffering their most crucial defeat above the human homeworld two months ago.

The human planet, Mindoir, was confirmed to be rid of reaper forces less than three weeks ago and Alliance officials thought now was as good a time as any to begin rebuilding and recolonization of the planet. Humans among many other species filled the _New Orleans_, looking to start a new life_._ Where a certain species decided to make their home wasn't the biggest concern from their governments, everyone knew which planets belonged to whom.

Deep at the back of the vessel, trying to stay somewhat isolated, were two of the many notable heroes who kept the reapers at bay and drove them back to dark space: Commander Joshua Shepard and Admiral Tali'Zorah, Shepard's quarian lover, who were now taking their time in finally enjoying each other's company while only being offset by the occasional murmur. Every day since the retaking of Earth had been a special gift; both human and quarian wished to make the most of it, but Tali had plans. What Shepard knew was that Tali was taking him to tour the galaxy, to finally enjoy their lives without the threat of death on their doorstep. What Shepard didn't know, however, was that their first destination was, in fact, his homeworld.

"It's high time that Joshua Shepard finally gets his time off, huh?" stated the jovial quarian. It was all a joke but it was still a very welcome reminder. She had a hint of a small fever in her voice, she was treated for an open air exposure when the medical crews found her and Shepard.

"I hope it's worth it," Shepard replied, giving Tali a light nudge. "I take a ship with you to God knows where and it's a miracle people haven't come to talk to me, yet."

"Keep talking," Tali goaded as she gave her human boyfriend a light slap on his chest. "But you were the one who wanted to take a ship off of Earth like a small child the second you got your honourable discharge. All I had was a destination in mind." She was never going to get tired of that: 'honourable discharge'. Shepard was officially relieved of military duty. A career marine and officer and Tali now had him for herself. She planned to promise herself every day that she would make sure that Shepard was happy with his newly-found free time; and that it wouldn't go to waste.

The two of them caught a shuttle, one of the last departures, minutes after Shepard received his discharge from Admiral Hackett himself. The shuttle took off before they even found their seats.

"So when are you going to tell me where we're going?" Shepard asked.

A smile formed across Tali's face. Though it was hidden by her helmet, Shepard knew exactly what she was doing. "All in due time, my love," she answered.

'Love'. Shepard adored the sound of that. For something as endearing as that, he decided to return the favour. "I love you, Tali'Zorah," Shepard whispered tenderly, bumping his forehead against Tali's helmet. "Thank you for everything."

"Always, Josh."

The frigate caught all the passengers off guard as it hit the brakes from mass relay travel. Tali was now excited because she knew the pilot was going to be reminding the passengers of the destination; she wanted to see Shepard's reaction. "Sorry about the turbulence, folks. We will now begin our final approach to Mindoir. Good luck."

Shepard's eyes widened at the mention of their destination. His home planet. It was no secret to Tali, the trauma Shepard endured when he was sixteen; he knew his girlfriend must have brought him along for the best intentions, if not for a damn good reason. Whatever her reason may be, he now had a reason of his own.

Tali tried to fish a reaction out of Shepard by sliding her three fingered hand up on to his cheek. Shepard nodded and Tali knew that he was as ready as he could be, to return home.

The pilot made a smooth landing on an improvised landing pad, one of many, in a large field. He was decent but he wasn't as professional as Joker. With the announcement of a safe landing and the wishing of good luck, all the passengers rose from their seats and each made their way off the ship.

"So I have to ask," Shepard began as he and Tali took their first steps out of the frigate There were other landing pads which held many other transport frigates, whether they be refugee transfer or colonial restoration. Near the end of the field was a prefab unit; a long line of people were going in and, to their relief, they could see people coming out (they would never forget Horizon). Commander and Admiral heard murmurs of Shepard's name, people were wondering what brought him back to Mindoir; but Shepard didn't let them distract him. "Why did you want to take me to Mindoir?"

_Because I love you and I want to be apart of (and know) your life in every-which-way possible?_ The thought to say that did cross Tali's mind but she decided to settle for something less dramatic. "Well Commander Shepard's greatest fan would like to know where his legend began."

"My greatest fan?"

"Who else knows every song to your extranet music library?" Of course EDI, but she doesn't count—she being the _Normandy's_ computer. After a short period of silence, Tali weaved her fingers together. Looking down, feeling embarrassed, she said, "I was kind of hoping that you'd take the lead, Josh. This is your home planet, I don't know anything about it beyond you... and what I'm seeing right now."

Shepard bit his lip. He hesitated but he finally said, "This has been my first visit in... sixteen... seventeen years. I haven't really made peace with what happened here all those years back. Will you go to my old farm with me? Help alleviate the grief?"

Tali quickly raised her hands, placing one on Shepard's chest and covering his lips with a single finger. "Joshua, before we went to cripple a certain rogue black op, I seem to recall saying to you: 'Whenever you need me'. You also held me when we found my dead father on the _Alarei_, don't even get me started with the rest of that garbage. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I wouldn't help you through this? ...that and I also dragged you here."

Shepard grabbed a hold of his lover's hand and kissed her fingers. "Sorry Tali, I'm still getting used to asking for things. I've made enough demands in the past few years."

"I know," Tali said as she wrestled her hand from Shepard's grasp and placed it on his cheek. "Let's go to your old farm."

"Thanks."

-Xx0o0xX-

Tali and Shepard were almost denied a rental shuttle because they were only visiting, not around for colonial development. However, being Commander Joshua Shepard did have its perks. Human and Quarian were allowed a shuttle after and genuine and hearty 'welcome home' when Tali simply dropped her boyfriend's name.

Before departing, Shepard warned Tali that they were in for a lengthy shuttle ride but Tali was very convincing when she said that she didn't care how long the ride was. It was an opportunity for some time alone. But, however, as romantic as the thought seemed, it was still a tense ride as Shepard maintained silence.

Finally, on the end of the horizon, there was a beat-up prefab unit overlooking a large field. They were in silent agreement that the small settlement was likely hit by the reaper attack, as evidenced by deep grooves in the soil that were likely the remnants of a reaper's beam. The unit's windows were shattered and the doors were either gone or destroyed.

It wasn't the same house where Joshua lived during his boyhood but it was still his old land. Shepard took a solemn breath as he landed the shuttle as he knew that, for the first time since he was rescued, he would be returning to the place where the childhood of Joshua Shepard was destroyed; the place where his childhood was destroyed but the event that gave birth to Commander Shepard.

"Let's get this over with."

Shepard's knees buckled as he took his first steps off the shuttle. The grave of his parents... perhaps this was going to be harder than he thought. Tali, however, was going to do everything she could to make sure her Commander would get through this. She began by wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's; at that gesture, Shepard took a deep breath and stepped forward, silently deciding what he was going to revisit first.

Only a few steps away from the shuttle, Shepard bitterly asked, "Do you know what 'scorched earth' is, Tali?"

"I've heard of it," Tali answered in a whisper.

"It's when one force takes anything that can be of use and burns everything that's nailed to the ground," Shepard began with anger rising in his voice. "And a batarian raiding party will follow that policy to a tee. They'll mess up your home so badly that people can very well mistake a farm for a parking lot. That's what they did to my home, Tali. They didn't give me the chance to pick myself up and give my parent's farm a second chance."

Tali ran her hand up Shepard's arm, resting it on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "And the Hegemony paid for its sins when the reapers made the batarians their first target. And the raiders must have gotten sloppy because this planet is in a recovery effort for an attack made by the reapers. Josh, Mindoir recovered. And they'll do it again.

Shepard let out a sigh as he led Tali across a lane of grim memories. As Shepard stopped, Tali hoped to her ancestors that this next memory wouldn't feel as bad as the first one. "This is where they died. This isn't the same house, but our front porch used to be right here. My parents helped me escape, but they stayed behind to make sure the slavers wouldn't follow. By the time I was far enough to not be seen, I saw them dragging my parents out. They killed my mom, execution style, but they mistook a Predator for a Shuriken..."

Tali now wholeheartedly regretted dragging Shepard back to this planet. No sense of closure could be worth the amount of pain he must be reliving now.

"Dad fought back in a fit of rage, but he was put down quickly by a pyro trooper. They didn't even give me a chance to mourn my parents, Tali."

Tali couldn't say anything beyond "I'm so sorry" as she leaned her head against Shepard's arm.

"And this is where they found me," said Shepard as he led Tali to another spot that was not so far away from his parents were killed.

"Joshua..."

"They found me holding my dog, they only thing I could mourn. The raiders had to kill my pet as if it were some kind of sick, final insult. I tried to stop his bleeding, but he stopped breathing seconds after I grabbed hold of him. The responders thought I was a cut-and-dry cat. 6-"

Tali decided that she had to stop this. Shepard was beating himself up over his childhood for too long; he avoided addressing his past for too long. Now he was paying for something that wasn't his to pay. "And you proved them wrong," Tali growled as she stood in front of Shepard, taking his hands. "When you picked yourself up and put the pieces of your life back together, you made it your life's mission to see that the atrocities you experienced didn't have to happen to anyone else. Do you remember Asteroid X57, Joshua?

"I remember."

"What about Feros?"

"...Yes."

"When you saved those colonists and tore through their aggressors like a force of nature, you continue to prove exactly what kind of man you are: unwavering and protective. And it is that protective man that attracted my attention. And it was the rest of him that won my love. The thing that matters the most is that you lived and you saved the galaxy."

"I should have been rid of this place a long time ago. But it will never leave."

"I'm not surprised; Mindoir is your home, it will be apart of you forever. Josh, if you need to get anything off your chest, I'm right here."

Shepard wrestled his hands from Tali's grip and pulled her closer, giving her a hug. "I miss my parents, Tali."

Tali leaned back and cupped Shepard's face with her palms, "And whenever you think of them, know that you were their everything. They loved you. Joshua, if you forgot about this place—about what happened—I doubt that things would have been the same; but, please, you don't have to let Mindoir hurt you."

Shepard allowed for a small smile to appear on his face. He felt many things over Tali's words but, most of all, he felt grateful: Grateful that she brought him home, grateful that she was there, grateful that she knew what to say. "Now where was that pep-talk when I was found?"

"None of them were Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."

"This isn't going to make it better, Tali... between me and my past," Shepard stated plainly. He then sighed, as if letting a weight fall off his shoulders. "But I know that it's never going to get worse from here on. Thanks... for bringing me here. But I'd like to leave."

"Of course," Tali replied, stepping back, taking hold of Shepard's hands. "Just... get the shuttle ready. I want to take this place in."

Shepard nodded as he turned around and made his way back to the shuttle. As Tali looked back, taking one last, good look at Commander Shepard's old home. She then looked up to the clear blue sky and said, "Thank you. The galaxy owes its existence to your son's selfless determination... as well as yours; the galaxy owes you a lot, even though they don't know it. I would have loved to meet the both of you. Find peace in your skies."

Tali entered the shuttle to hear Shepard's fingers drumming against the control console. When she took her seat, Shepard asked: "Anything good?"

To which Tali replied, "Very."

When leaving, the general atmosphere of the shuttle felt relieving. Much more welcome as opposed to the tension and anxiety when approaching.

Now that Shepard's heartache had, for all intents and purposes, been dealt with, the once again jovial quarian now had herself some questions. Tali was very vocal in her questioning of her boyfriend's home planet, not that Shepard was being belligerent about it. The questions were endless as Shepard drove the shuttle, questions like: What was Mindoir like? What were the people like? How easy was it for a farmer to make a living? Did they ever completely shake off the raid? The questions went on and on until Shepard was blue in the face and Tali seemed bored of asking.

That was until a suddenly nervous Tali said, "Josh, there's one more thing I need to ask... and I need an honest answer."

Shepard nodded, giving her the confidence to ask what she needed to know.

"Is there the slightest possibility to see yourself returning? Coming back to live here?"

Shepard understood completely why Tali needed an answer to that. Less than three months ago, after Shepard's climactic duel against a reaper on her home planet of Rannoch, Tali already had some potential spots in mind for them to build their new home. To have those dreams crushed because he wanted to return and live on his own homeworld... Shepard couldn't have that.

"Being completely honest, I could. It's got breathable air and fertile land," Tali bowed her head as if someone took a wrench to her heart. "But..." hold that thought, "I don't. I never will; I hope we're on the same page about this. If I weren't Joshua Shepard, then yeah, maybe I'd think about restarting my old farm. But..."

Shepard was interrupted when Tali quickly leaned forward and gave him a tight hug. "I hate it when you do that! Don't ever scare me like that again, you bosh'tet!" There was a hint of a joke in there, but she had good cause to have fear.

A smile crept across Shepard's face, a provocative mood began to rise. "Since when have I ever scared you like that?"

"Oh, don't you dare start with me, Joshua Shepard," Tali laughed.


End file.
